Sacramento Kings head coach Mike Malone wants his team to limit their technical fouls this season, and he plans to help them by impersonating referee Joey Crawford's quick whistle in practice. From the Sacramento Bee's Jason Jones:
“I just told our guys in practices I’m going to be Joey Crawford,” Malone said. “I’m going to be the guy that cleans it all up. You’re going to play how you practice. And if in practice you just complain and talk to the referees any way you want, well you’re going to carry that over into the game. If you think in practice you can just foul each other – we were 27th in free throw attempts allowed per game – so if you beat each other up in practice and do it in a game we pay the penalty. So I told our guys from now on if someone’s acting up or going too crazy, technical foul. If you get two, you’re gone. I’m kinda looking forward to being Joey Crawford this year.”
The Kings' worst offender, unsurprisingly, was big man DeMarcus Cousins, who led the league with 16 technicals last season. He is aiming for five or fewer this year, which is a rather ambitious goal. He won't forget, it though, because there will be a reminder in his locker, via Reggie Evans' Instagram. Evans apparently has Cousins rather motivated, again via the Sacramento Bee:
“Me and Reggie talked yesterday and Reggie’s been on my head this camp, he’s been on my head,” Cousins said. “And that’s the guy I go to when I’m ready to vent. Whenever I’m having a problem I go to Reggie. I’m a vet but he’s my vet. And I’m all ears. That’s a guy I truly respect on this team. He’s set goals for me, I set goals for him, we set goals for the team. In order for me to be a better leader, I can’t be getting ejected, getting these technicals. Without me on the floor it’s hard for this team to win games. He challenged me and told me no more than five this year so I’m accepting the challenge.”
Point guard Isaiah Thomas, now with the Phoenix Suns, was second on the team with nine techs last season. Forward Jason Thompson had eight. Malone himself? He had six.
If Malone truly wants to do a Crawford impression, he should really get in touch with the guy who attended the Spurs' Halloween party a couple of years ago.
